Good News!

Heard any good news lately? Prophecy comprises about one-third of the Bible, and believe it or not, most of it is good news! The prophecies of the first coming of Messiah were certainly good news. And the massive amount of Bible teaching about the Millennial age and beyond, is unquestionably positive! But admittedly, much of "end-time prophecy" is depressing. We should remember that Jesus called this phase of the future "labor pains." Just as the birth of a baby is preceeded by difficult and painful labor, the birth of the Millenium, and after that, the glorious New Heaven and Earth, is preceeded by the Tribulation.

We need to balance our study of prophecy with a reminder that God is still on His throne. He is the loving, all-powerful creator and the designer of our incredible salvation.

The Gospel is the "Good News." The Bible is His love letter to us. The incredible Creation is His handicraft. The Family is His idea. Israel is still His chosen people. And the Church is the greatest expression of His power and purpose during this age.

Additionally, the Bible tells us repeatedly not to be afraid! So let's check out the good news today!

Dec. 9, 2010 - Youth With A Mission, a global missions organization started by Loren Cunningham
in his parents' garage when he was only 25, has reached it's 50-year anniversary.

In its first 50 years, YWAM has deployed four million workers in 240 countries. Now it sets its sights on
152 remaining unreached people groups.

YWAM has more than 20,000 volunteer missionaries. More than 50 percent of them are non-Western. Each one is
required to attend a six-month Discipleship Training School (DTS). One of their schools is located in Kona,
on Hawaii's Big Island. Their University of the Nations has 500 campuses in 138 locations.

By 1978 YWAM had inaugurated Mercy Ministries, a fleet of ships serving as floating hospitals.
providing provide food, medical supplies, and dental care. That ministry became a separate organization
in 2002, when YWAM directors sensed it had grown too large.

YWAM now leads another Great Commission-fulfilling movement, Call2All, which was started by Campus
Crusade founder Bill Bright. Three years ago there were 639 unengaged, unreached people groups
(each with a population of 100,000 or more). Since then some 4,000 Call2All missionaries have reduced that
number to 152, and have planted 14,000 churches.

May 1, 2010 - In Oregon a sheriff's deputy apparently had a heart attack while trying to help a stranded motorist. Two inmates from a nearby work crew rushed to his aid and are credited with helping to save his life.

James Parker and Michael Smith began cardiopulmonary resuscitation with assistance from a 9-1-1 dispatcher and a doctor who stopped to assist until emergency crews arrived.

Apr. 20, 2010 - This is a must-read story about the rescue of the 11-year-old girl spent four days lost in a Florida alligator infested swamp.

For three days, helicopters, dogs and divers scoured the woods of Winter Springs,looking for Nadia Bloom in vain. On the fourth day, James King, a fellow church member of Covenant Community Church in Sanford, felt led by God to find her. He said,

"I went in at daybreak and went almost right to her," King said. "It was a huge swamp. Very dangerous. I am still recovering from poison ivy."

He was praying the entire time and said it was The Lord who led him to Nadia

While she was lost, Nadia says she kept reciting the Bible verse Proverbs 3:5 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

It was the basketball game for the ages. On Monday night, the Duke University Blue Devils survived a desperate, last-second shot by the underdog Butler University Bulldogs to win the NCAA men's basketball championship.

He then recounts the fascinating fact, forgotten by most in our generation, that basketball was created by James Naismith, who became convinced that he stood a better chance of exemplifying the Christian life through sports rather than through preaching. He worked as a physical education instructor at the YMCA's International Training School for Christian Workers. His vision was "to win men for the Master through the gym."

April 4, 2010 - Numerous sites in Jerusalem are powerful reminders that the Bible story of the death and resurrection of Christ are historically accurate. Some of these are:

Two thousand year old olive trees still thriving in the Garden of Gethsemane

An ancient Roman road from the Kidron Valley to the house of Caiphas

Stones from the fortress of Pontus Pilate with the marks of a Roman soldier's game called "King for a Day"

The Via Dolorosa or "The Way of the Cross" - the route Jesus took to His crucifixion

The Garden Tomb

Chris Mitchell, CBN News Mideast Bureau Chief, who wrote the article says, "But perhaps the greatest proof of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ lies beyond the Old City walls of Jerusalem. It's the testimony of more than a billion Christians from every tongue and tribe who say their lives have been forever changed by the resurrected Jesus."

March, 2010 - A national campaign has been launched by Answers In Genesis to encourage Christians to post and/or record their statement of faith in Jesus Christ. This is the message America needs the most, and it has grown to all areas of the media, including television, the Internet, and billboards.

Get involved by posting your own thoughts about Jesus, by being part of the world's first video Bible (you and your family may quote a portion of Scripture for all to see), or sponsoring media ads

Feb. 3, 2010 - At a recent event at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, Beatles Drummer Ringo Starr said that he had turned to God. He said,

"For me, God is in my life. I don't hide from that. I think the search has been on since the 1960s."

In 1966 John Lennon told the London Evening Standard, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that. I'm right and I will be proved right... We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first - rock and roll or Christianity- Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

Source: Daily Mail - UK

Editor's Note: The article doesn't mention what religion he has adopted.